Matthew 19:16-30

“But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26, NKJV)

The rich young ruler who came to Jesus had everything materially. We are told that he had great possessions. But all that he possessed failed to satisfy his spiritual hunger. He had kept the commandments of God from his youth, but he knew that he still lacked something. He wanted to know that he had eternal life, but he saw this as a deed he must do. Mark tells us that Jesus looked at him and loved him. Then He said:

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21, NKJV)

Jesus saw into his soul. He saw the one thing that stood between him and his absolute surrender to God. He owned great possessions, but his possessions also owned him. They were a weight that hindered him from completely following Jesus. If he truly wanted to be perfect, then he would get rid of these and be totally free to be Christ’s disciple. But he was unwilling and went away sad.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!’” (Matthew 19:23–24, NLT)

At this point the disciples were astonished, because they considered great wealth to be a sign of God’s blessing. Their immediate response was, “Who then can be saved?” They rightly understood that salvation was completely outside of the reach of the common man. But Jesus replied that the things that are impossible for people are possible with God.

I think that there are many things in our lives that we think are impossible. We think it is impossible for another person to change. We think it is impossible for us to give up a pet sin. We think it is impossible for God to heal a broken relationship or reconcile estranged parties. We are correct; these things are impossible with people. But do we believe they are possible with God, and do we pray accordingly? Or do we simply go away sad?